Pat's Pizza (review date night)

http://www.patswindham.com/

Date night! So my husband and I moved, AGAIN! From an apartment in the city to a house near a pond. We are excited about having so much room for activities! (Brother's movie reference). The house is a lot bigger than our city apartment and somehow we are only paying $100 dollars more a month. The house itself is gorgeous and the area seems very friendly and quiet. But now we don't know where to go to eat! After living in the city we knew our fast food date nights and our pricey romantic date nights. Now, in new territory, we have to try a of bunch new places. Introducing Pat's Pizza! 

Hours: One of the reasons my husband and I chose to drive 20 minutes to Pat's Pizza, other than both of us craving pizza asap, was because their website said they closed at 11 pm at night. Everything else was closing at 10 pm and it was just about 9:30 pm when we decided neither one of us wanted to cook. After unpacking boxes of pots and pans who wants to get them all out and cook on them? We were a little worried when we started out. It was a Tuesday night and we assumed that the restaurant wouldn't be busy and the crew wouldn't want to serve us. To out surprise their parking lot was filled with cars and when we walked in they were mildly busy. 

Lay Out: We have been to another Pat's Pizza before in Scarborough and the lay out was a little different. You went through a side door and down into a basement area where the bar is on the right and the booths on the left. It functions fine, however, if you've never been there before it's a little weird. I remember thinking. "What do they do with the rest of this big building?" Windham's, however, is more like a traditional restaurant. Ironically, right when you walk in the bar is again on the right and the dining is on the left. 

 

Service: Unfortunately not a selling point. However, to be fair, it was close to closing time. In any case the waitress seemed distracted. She was not overly friendly but she was not at all rude. She served her purpose and did her job. My husband used to be a server, so he takes actions as a waiter/waitress seriously. I on the other had just want my food. 

Menu: The menu was pretty easy to navigate. Prices were decent. I personally like when menus have pictures, it usually sways my decision making a bit. I had nothing to go off with these menus so we took our time going over the list of pizzas. 

                    

Food: The pizza was AMAZING. The deciding factor on food was a Chicken and Basil pizza and a Pastrami and Cheese Sub. The toppings on the pizza were chicken, basil, mushrooms, provolone, and cheddar cheese. The chicken appeared to be fresh, some pieces rather large, so you could tell it wasn't from a can or processed. The chicken was also moist and everything was baked perfectly. My husband had 2 favorite things about the pizza was the basil (the perfect amount apparently) and the thin crust. I couldn't stop eating. The gourmet pizza along was $13 for a large. And we had leftovers! 4 slices of pizza. The Sub . . . my husband was more than slightly disappointed. His exact words, "it's not anything special." I guess the pizza was too perfect. The sub was a small amount of shaved pastrami with some cheese. He ate half and we left the other half behind.    

So all in all, another great and cheap date night. Left with some amazing pizza for left overs and didn't may over $25.00 for two hungry people. 

Thanks for reading and if you're ever in town you best go to Pat's Pizza.

Save me a slice, would ya'?

Have a sweeter day than yesterday.

The Flashbacks (Band & Bar review)

So my husband and I went on an impromptu adventure again. Friday night we didn't have any plans, but we wanted to go out and do something within budget. Of course this is always difficult to do. But it is apparently my job to figure out what is going on locally. So I hop online, we're driving around town, and I look up events in Portland, ME.  Behold I find a list on Visit Portland. The list literally has day by day of the events, you can choose what month or even down to the day. So I look up Friday and there's a couple things, but only one that's 15 minutes away. TGIF Maine Band Dance Series is hosted on Fridays in Zackery's Restaurant and Lounge which we would find out later is in the Fireside Inn and Suites hotel.

The website said there was a $5.00 cover charge, which my husband and I comprised on by eating at home first. Again to stay within budget. Because we were more than half an hour late since we went home to eat, my husband gave Zach's a call to see if it would be okay if we showed up late. They said sure the band would be performing until 11:00 that night and best news yet, no cover charge that night. Woo who! Free tunes.

Place: is was a little strange going in because we didn't know it was in a hotel. But the hotel atmosphere was really pretty and homie. I loved the fire place! Made of stones and looking warm and cozy. We Found a sign stating Zach's and a man at the asked for our ID's. We walked in to a dimly lit little bar and found a spot to sit. The layout was small but had enough seating and a great view of the band.

The Band: The Flashbacks were a lively group, that joked with the audience and filled up the room with their energy. I liked their interactions between each other. An awesome team and well played songs too. They played modern songs like Uptown Funk and older songs. The main singer the woman was a ball of energy, with the biggest smile. Later they joked that she was getting over a cold. Fooled me! My husband liked the men that say too. 

So off we went. 

Place: is was a little strange going in because we didn't know it was in a hotel. But the hotel atmosphere was really pretty and homie. I loved the fire place! Made of stones and looking warm and cozy. We Found a sign stating Zach's and a man at the asked for our ID's. We walked in to a dimly lit little bar and found a spot to sit. The layout was small but had enough seating and a great view of the band.

The Band: The Flashbacks were a lively group, that joked with the audience and filled up the room with their energy. I liked their interactions between each other. An awesome team and well played songs too. They played modern songs like Uptown Funk and older songs. The main singer the woman was a ball of energy, with the biggest smile. She danced all over the stage and stood next to the other band members bringing attention to them too. Later they joked that she was getting over a cold. Fooled me! My husband liked the men that say too. Their raspy deep tones got his bead bobbing to the beat. Glad they share their talents and share the stage. A true team of talent and fun.

Customer Service: The bartender was patient with my husband asking about all the prices and helped him choose a beer. One man had way too many to drink and she helped him get a cab and apologized to a couple he had been a little overly friendly with. Handling the situation very well. Around 11 pm we started to head out. The band was only taking a couple minute and planned to start right back up again, but my husband had to be up early the next morning. As we were leaving I noticed a sign that said Ballroom and wondered if someone could have a wedding there. We know couple getting married and it was a cute little place. I asked the front desk and they directed me to the bartender who is their events coordinator also. She was amazing. Providing us with packets, information, possible dates available, even showed us what the conference rooms looked like and let me take pictures. A+

Over all the night was great. Not too many people, but it was nice not to be crowded and fight for seating or not be able to see the band. A very relaxed atmosphere. Somewhere you bring a couple of friends listen to some tunes and chill.

Thanks for reading! 

Have a Sweeter Day than Yesterday! 

The Great Lost Bear (review)

Food review in Portland, Maine! So I've mentioned before that my husband and I are new to Maine. Moved here several months ago and are still finding beat places. This St. Patrick's day my husband decided we would try something new. He looked up bars in Maine and saw The Great Lost Bear had a 3.9 star review. So we got dressed up and went out.

Parking: Off street parking woo who! My husband hates parking on the street and since we had never been there before was worried that since it's in Portland we would have to. Turns out they have a parking lot to the left of the building. It's a bit small but we found a spot and went inside.

Building & Decor: is a little worn and the inside wood, walls, and artwork are as well. Even though everything looks like it's been there a while, everything looks like it's supposed to. I don't know how to explain it but as soon as we stepped in we felt comfortable and chill. The overall atmosphere was bar you would bring family and friends too. The lights weren't to dark, the music wasn't to loud, and spacing wasn't to crowded. 

Service: Our waitress was pretty cool. All the servers were wearing green on account of the holiday I assume. They were pretty friendly and really patient answering our awkward questions. Having never been there before we had a lot of questions. My husband is really picky about his food and his beer. They explained sizes, sides, and their favorite foods and beers. Overall fairly friendly, but again just right, no fake smiles.

Menu: For such a small looking place they had a rather large menu! And my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach.  I just couldn't decide and neither could my husband. They had salads that sounded tasty, burgers that sounded mouth watering, chicken that sounded delicious. There was a lot to choose from. The menu itself was pretty entertaining also. Little drawings all over the place and funny phrases to describe the food. It took us forever to order, not just because we couldn't decide but because we were having so much fun commenting about the look of the menu.

Food: Was amazing. Brought out to us hot & melting. My husband and I finally decided on 2 Philly Cheesesteak bombs. Shaved steak, grilled with green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Melted on top was their seasoned cheese sauce. I didn't even add mayo to mine! The fries were great too. Not fancy, but definitely sliced and cooked, not from a bag. However, we did see some mean looking burger at the table next to us were a lil jealous. But that's for round 2!

Top it off: So I guess you figured it out. That my husband and I had a lot of fun and loved The Great Lost Bear. But there was something else that I couldn't keep my eyes off while there. Glass Etching Windows . . . as part of the walls separating the dining areas. If you've seen some of my other blogs particularly the Glass Etched Mason Jar one, you'll know I love etching glass. Now there's a reason these etching were so interesting to me. First they are on huge pieces of window panes and second none of of them were alike. Someone had designed them. And I'm dying to know how, who and how long did it take to do!?

So there you have it. If your in the Portland area and want great food and a relaxing place to chill and hang The Great Lost Bear has my vote. Hey! And let us know when you're in town. My husband and I always like good food and a good time!

Thanks for reading! 

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Have a Sweeter Day Than Yesterday! 

Good Eattin'

So my husband and I moved to Maine several months ago and we don't really get out much. I'm still still getting used to the area and finding places that make me feel homie. So one of our adventures in our new home was going to a restaurant called Ninety Nine or 99. I had never heard of it before and to my knowledge there are none where I used to live. It appears to be a New England chain of roughly 100 locations.

Long story short, my husband and I were in Biddeford, ME and starving. My husband is originally from the New England area and hadn't been to a 99 in several years, so he decided that's where we were going to eat.

First I must tell you that I was a little confused with the outside layout. The building is located near a shopping center. You know the ones that are all connected, creating a shape similar to a horse shoe? So all the shops face each other right? You pull into the parking lot, conveniently located in the middle and you can see every shop store front. Not, however, Ninety Nine. Instead you see the back of the building and we didn't see a sign anywhere. My husband couldn't even find the front door. It was located at the back or the front? Anyway it would have been nice to have at least a sign. I'm not quite sure why they built so close to the hill and not facing the other stores but we eventually found our way in.

Now even though the location is strange, I have to say the service was excellent. As soon as we entered the building a young woman was there holding the door open for us. She welcomed us and asked how many. They were not extremely possibly because of the snow storm of 8 inches that was slowing occurring. So we immediately got a booth. The inside seemed like any restaurant and there was a bar that was separated from the dining area.

Our waitress was another young lady who was pleasantly sweet. Not the overly fake sweet, but the genuinely happy to help kind. Because my husband hadn't been to a Ninety Nine in years and me not at all, we had a lot of question. The waitress was patient with us. One of my husband's questions was "How big are the hamburgers?" My husband likes double burger if the patties are super small. The answer; "8 ounces." My questions was based on the Vermont Cheddar Burger which came with Maple Mayonnaise. You can guess my question. The waitress was honest and said she gets mixed reviews on the maple mayonnaise and that we would put a side regular mayo and the maple so I could try it.

Not going to lie, the best part about date night was the food! The Vermont Cheddar Burger comes with a huge seasoned 8 oz burger, Vermont cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, caramelized onions, and the maple mayonnaise.

In short IT WAS AMAZING. I ended up loving the maple mayonnaise so I put that on the bun. The bun was great too. I'm a bread person, I love bread. My husband laughed at me when the waitress set my plate down the first thing I said was the bun was pretty. It had an imprint with breading flakes speckled over the top. It looked delicious. The burger was excellent, it was thick and I could taste the seasoning. Not an ordinary plain burger, the seasoning gave it flavor and was actually really juicy. Despite the strange location, the food and the service was awesome. It's rare to find a burger that actually tastes like meat, let along meat that has flavor and not just beef and cheese. I also liked that at the end of the meal the waitress thought to ask me if I ended up liking the maple mayonnaise and also told us to drive safe in the storm. 

All and all a very good meal for date night as well as a new adventure for us Non-Mainers. So if you're ever in the New England area, I defiantly suggest you find a Ninety Nine near by and get yourself a real burger. 

Thanks for Reading 

My 

Thoughts! 

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Have a Sweeter Day 

Than 

Yesterday